Overview: Jinchang city sits in the east of the Hexi Corridor in Gansu province, north of the Qilian Mountains. It is connected to Minqin county in the north and east, Wuwei city in the southeast, the Sunan Yugur autonomous county in the south, Qinghai's Menyuan Hui autonomous county in the southwest, Minle and Shandan counties in the west, and Inner Mongolia's Alxa Right Banner in the northwest. At the end of 2011, the city was home to a permanent population of 465,900. It covered a total area of 9,600 square kilometers and was in charge of Yongchang county and Jinchang district. The city has 12 townships and is famous for its nickel resources.

Location: Jinchang city is located in northwestern Gansu province at the north foot of the Qilian Mountains. It neighbors Wuwei city in the southeast within the province, and shares boundaries with Qinghai province in the southwest and Inner Mongolia in the northwest.

History: As early as 4,000 years ago, ancestors of Gansu People entered the primitive clan society. Before the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD) established shires and counties to administrate this area, it was successively dominated by several ethnic regimes.

Physical Features: The terrain of the city basically declines from south to north, and its land interleaves mountains and plains. Southern Jinchang is comprised of vast mountainous area. In the central, there are basins, oasis plains and mountain valleys dotted peaks. Desert plain is mainly distributed in northern Jinchang.

Climate: The city bears a dry continental climate in temperate zone. It is rich in sunshine. Spring is windy and the temperature is unstable. Summer is the rainy season, and the cold air usually attacks the city in mid-September. In the dry and chilly winter, its average temperature will drops between -14.6C and -9.5C (14.9F -5.7F). On the whole, the temperature of Jinchang varies greatly both during a day and the whole year.When to Go: summer and autumn

Resources: A total of 101 mining sites have been discovered in Jinchang, including 15 black metal mines, 21 nonferrous and precious metal mines, and 11 energy mineral sources. They cover iron, chromium, nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, silver, platinum, phosphorus, silica, fluorite, bentonite, granite building materials, coal and petroleum. Particularly, the city has abundant nickel ore reserves, ranking third in the world. Its copper reserves rank second in China. Output of nickel and platinum group metals accounts for more than 90 percent of the country, and the city is China’s largest center for nickel and cobalt production and platinum group metals refining. Jinchang also has rich tourist resources, including cultural relics and historic sites, such as Yuanyang Pond in the Neolithic Age, the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), numerous tombs in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), temples in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), bell towers in the Ming Dynasty, and ancient architectural complexes.

Projects: In 2011, Jinchang's fixed assets investment reached 13.07 billion yuan, up 23.66 percent year-on-year. This number includes 6.15 billion yuan in central government and provincial investment, down 5.15 percent from the previous year, and 6.93 billion yuan in local investment, up 69.27 percent year-on-year. Real estate investment stood at 644 million yuan, up 33.47 percent year-on-year.

Competitive industries: In 2011, Jinchang realized industrial added value of 16.39 billion yuan, up 17.62 percent over the previous year. Leading industrial products saw production capacity increase significantly, with nickel reaching 150,000 tons, copper 600,000 tons, cobalt 10,000 tons, and chemicals 4 million tons. The circular economy also exhibited strong growth. Nonferrous metal and chemical industrial chains continued to extend, becoming a feature of the local circular economy. The city was named a circular economic demonstration zone in Gansu province, and Jinchang Group was named a model company of the circular economy. The Jinchang Economic Development Zone has been upgraded into a national zone. Industrial parks, such as Jinchang New Material, Hexibao Chemical Circular Economy and Yongchang, have been taking shape. The city was named a national new material high-tech base and a national new industrialization demonstration base. Specialty plantation areas accounted for more than 90 percent of all the areas. Quality mutton, malt barley, pollution-free vegetables, edible fungus and other high-quality and high-efficiency water conserving agriculture industries have witnessed rapid development. Now, there are 30 leading industrialized agricultural companies, 17 provincial ones and one national one. More than 70 percent of agricultural products realized added value through processing, and agricultural standardization coverage reached 80 percent, higher than the national average.

People's livelihood: Labor exports and unemployment alleviation pushed ahead steadily. The income of urban and rural residents grew rapidly and quality of life improved. In 2011, urban per capita disposable income reached 20,074 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2,395 yuan or 13.55 percent. Consumer spending per capita was 16,698 yuan, up 17.7 percent year-on-year. Per capita urban housing area was 31.41 square meters. Rural resident per capita net income reached 6,709 yuan, up 756 yuan or 12.7 percent from 2010. Farmer per capita nonproductive spending hit 7,430 yuan, up 106.6 percent year-on-year. Rural resident per capita housing area was 38 square meters. There were 70,500 employees at the end of 2011, down by 0.7 percent from 2010. Average salary was 46,730 yuan, up 10.99 percent year-on-year.

Employment and social security: The city created 8,655 job opportunities in 2011 and hired 1,458 recent college graduates. The number of registered urban unemployed personnel totaled 3,786, with a registered urban unemployment rate of 3.72 percent. Labor income amounted to 840 million yuan. A total of 55,456 residents opted into basic endowment insurance; 78,600 people opted into urban unemployment insurance; 116,100 people into basic medical insurance; 70,300 people into work-related injury insurance; 14,900 people into birth insurance; and 147,100 people into rural endowment insurance. A total of 19,100 people in the city received basic living allowances totaling 48.83 million yuan. Another 12,187 people in rural areas received allowances totaling 10.98 million yuan.

Social undertakings: Jinchang carried out 69 scientific and technological projects, offering 2.4 million yuan in funding. It applied for 24 national and provincial S&T projects and received approval for 10 of them, including five national and five provincial projects. It handled 250 patent applications and approved 150.

The city has 91 middle and primary schools with 65,847 students. It was home to 67 kindergartens, 11 public and 56 private. Sixty-five percent of children from three to six years old were enrolled in school. A total of 90 percent of rural children were able to access education. A total of 93.9 percent of students passed university entrance examinations for junior college. A total of 91.04 percent of disabled children were admitted to schools. The overall rate of adult education was 99.13 percent.

The city has an art performance troupe, two cultural museums and two libraries housing 245,000 books. A total of 138 rural bookstores, 12 cultural stations and 34 community culture centers have been built in the city. Cable TV subscribers numbered 67,000, including 65,000 digital TV users. Radio coverage reached 85.77 percent. TV coverage reached 91.43 percent. Jinchang screens 1,889 films for the public for free every year.

There were 534 health institutions in the city, including nine hospitals, 12 town health clinics and 138 village clinics. The facilities have a total of 1,910 beds and 3,578 medical staff. Urban community health service institutions covered all residents. The mortality rate of pregnant women was zero, infants 0.012 percent, children under five 0.012 percent, and newborns 0.0094 percent. The vaccination rate averaged 98.37 percent, and the premarital medical check rate reached 78.93 percent.